ARS | Publication request: ULTRASOUND TREATMENTS TO CONTROL SURFACE PESTS OF FRUITS

Submitted to: HortTechnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: March 31, 2001
Publication Date: April 30, 2001
Citation: Hansen, J.D. 2001. Ultrasound treatments to control surface pests of fruits. HortTechnology. 11:186-188.

Interpretive Summary: Exports of deciduous fruits are important sources of income for domestic producers. The presence of external feeding insects and mites in fruit shipments, however, may disrupt international commerce because of quarantine and phytosanitation reasons. Fast, effective methods to eliminate these pest would improve export markets. Thus, ultrasound exposures were examined as potential postharvest treatments. Spider mites and flower thrips were eliminated by ultrasonic treatments and efficacy was enhanced with the addition of a detergent. Codling moth eggs were effected by ultrasound, but at exposures too long to be of practical application. San Jose scales were not affected by ultrasound. Thus, ultrasound treatments could be used to control some external pests of deciduous fruits and could be an important component within the packing line when used as part of the Systems Approach.

Technical Abstract: Durations of ultrasound treatments were evaluated for efficacy in eliminating external pests of apples. Egg hatch of codling moth, Cydia pomonella L. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), was inversely related to time of ultrasound exposure, although egg mortality was less than 60% at 45 min of treatment. Mortality of twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), and western flower thrips, Franklinella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), was directly related to ultrasound durations; adding detergent to the ultrasound bath increased treatment efficacy. Ultrasound did not remove San Jose Scale, Quadrasphidiotus pernicious (Comstock) (Homoptera: Diaspididae), from fruit surface. Yet, ultrasound, which can be incorporated in the packing line, shows promise as a postharvest phytosanitation treatment against certain target pests.